Turns out it was old news to energy experts, but this week's report from the International Energy Agency has a lot of others revising their thinking about the domestic production of oil and what it will mean for jobs and the economy. Until now, it's been conventional wisdom that Saudi Arabia would be the world's leading producer of oil until 2035. Now, the Agency says the US will surpass that country in just five years. America's boom in oil and natural gas is being compared to the tech boom of the 1990's, with the unexpected capacity to create new jobs and accelerate economic recovery. But it's already bad news for the environment and lifestyles in many places — and it could drastically set back efforts to cope with global warming.
